The present invention is related to the field of a virtual office for generating and operating business applications and operations and obtaining knowledge and training using a performance support system.
Traditional training and support typically includes seminars, classes, documentation, and help desks. Many of these training and support methods are linear with a goal of teaching a person how to do a task from start to finish.
Today the work force has changed, and traditional training and support using linear methods is not as effective as it was in the past. Many factors have contributed to this changing workforce and the changing view of employees as trainees.
Many trainees are transient. The turnover rate of employees typically is high, and ongoing adaptation and learning is required. Therefore, a great amount of money currently is being spent for training and support since new employees constantly are being hired to replace employees that are no longer with a company.
In addition, trainees can be existing employees that require further training. Therefore, training also must be geared to continuing education and support of systems and operations. Training and support for these existing employees should cover situations that arise on-the-job requiring real time answers as well as situations that can be answered other than in real time, including training that can occur at the option of the trainee when desired.
Many trainees are busy with workloads as work becomes increasingly complex. The trainees desire to know why they are to learn something before they will take the time to learn it. They want to see the value in the training.
Many trainees are used to activity in the computer age. They are computer literate and expect that they can obtain information, including training and support information, by using a computer. They expect immediate gratification of answers to questions or issues.
Compounding this expectation of immediate gratification is an inherent self-reliance for learning, solving problems, and determining answers. These trainees have an ability to adapt quickly to changing information and to changing methods of operation. They desire the ability to control the learning process and to manage their own time during the learning process. Thus, the trainees desire to control navigation through training systems in a variety a ways.
Moreover, people learn at different rates. Expecting all trainees to have the same initial knowledge, the same rate of learning, and the same retention is unrealistic. Also, people learn in different ways. While one trainee may learn well from traditional methods, others learn better from self teaching and from other methods. Thus, a variety of methods and information sources that can be accessed at different rates and times are needed to provide more efficient and more effective training. This would allow a trainee to determine how the trainee can best learn the information.
Learning is a continual process, not an event. Therefore, the training and support should be geared toward constant inquiries and re-inquiries about pieces of information in addition to information about whole systems and whole processes.
Because the factors for efficient and effective training are so varied, no one training method is sufficient. A refocus to support performance of the employee/trainee for required tasks is desired instead of focussing on specific processes or training methods.
Also, with the advent of new fast paced environments at retail stores, it has become increasingly necessary to increase the efficiency of existing employees and to quickly train new employees efficiently so that they are effective at their jobs. Thus, there no longer is an opportunity for new employees to spend long periods of time studying operations of businesses, how to perform specific tasks and functions, or to learn new skills to advance as valued employees. The new primary objective is for an employee to become as productive as possible, as soon as possible, and to remain a productive employee.
Existing systems are not sufficient to meet the requirements of quick, effective, and efficient learning and training for new employees and continuing learning and training of current employees in an environment that would allow them to learn at their own pace. Thus, an improved system is needed that operates as a virtual office or virtual store. Such a virtual store would enable an employee to be a user on a computer based system to learn policies, procedures, and tasks necessary to operate effectively and efficiently as an employee. Additionally, such a virtual store would enable experienced employees to operate as users on the system for continuing training and learning of knowledge of policies, procedures, and tasks to continue to operate effectively and efficiently and to increase that efficiency.
Thus, a system is needed that focuses training on performance based support that provides information at the moment of need and in the best mechanism for the person attempting to learn and retain the information. A system is needed that focuses training on performance conditions, requirements, and end results and that provides information that can be accessed by, and presented to, a broad spectrum of personnel for multi-media learning. A system is needed to increase performance efficiency and effectiveness while reducing costs.
The present invention is directed to a system for performance support configured to operate on at least one processor by a user. The system comprises content configured as granules of information in multi-media formats. The system further comprises a computer based learning module configured with performance-centered situated based instruction to generate a subset of the content having selected granules of information and at least one of the multi-media formats based upon a user selection. The system further comprises a user interface configured to generate the subset of content having the selected granules of information in the multi-media format for viewing by the user.